Special break rooms to people who vape

Official health advice from Public Health England includes some interesting new stances on vaping – and to be honest, they seem to be headed in a very favourable and positive direction.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the new vaping workplace policies that are being sent down to firms and employers from Public Health England.

Special break rooms

Firms are now being told that they should set aside a special breakroom for staff members who vape. According to recent guidelines, vapers should not be sent outside to vape with the smokers, as this could undermine their decision to choose vaping over smoking – which is a safer habit that might help them to stop smoking.

These break rooms are supposed to be a more convenient option for vapers, and are supposed to provide incentive that will hopefully help more people to transition away from analog cigarettes.

E-cig users should be allowed extra breaks

Information! Since E-cigs deliver smaller doses of nicotine than cigarettes in most cases, companies are being told that vapers need extra breaks for quick, frequent top-ups.

These breaks, it seems, can be short – but the point is that vapers are supposed to get more breaks than smokers, so that vaping will, once again, seem like a more profitable option. It will also help to keep vapers from not getting the same amount of nicotine as their analog-smoking-counterparts, which will hopefully help to further sway people away from cigarettes and into the vaping habit.

Vaping and smoking are supposed to be separate habits and not to be grouped together as one and the same

Companies are instructed to be clear about the fact that vaping is different than smoking. In other words, vapers aren’t supposed to be lumped in with smokers whenever there is an opportunity (or cause) to make a distinction between the two. It would seem that this guideline is intended to help prevent discrimination to vapers based on the false idea that vaping and smoking are basically the same thing.

Why is Public Health England taking such a vaping-friendly stance in the workplace?

This is a good question – but the answer is pretty simple. Professor Kevin Fenton, who is the National Director of health and wellbeing at Public Health England, had this to say in a recent statement regarding the guidelines.

“The evidence is clear that vaping is much less harmful than smoking and that e-cigarettes are helping many smokers to quit… This new framework will encourage organisations to consider both the benefits and the risks when developing their own policies on e-cigarettes. Different approaches will be appropriate in different places, but policies should take account of the evidence and clearly distinguish vaping from smoking.”

Public Health England has pretty much abandoned the ‘precautionary principle’ that used to govern their outlook on E-cigs. Ever since their official review found E-cigs to be about 95% less harmful than smoking, they’ve adopted a much more vaping-friendly stance – and this is now affecting their workplace policies.

These new guidelines are said to target ill-informed companies that are forcing vapers to adhere to the same strict rules as smokers. The language in the guidelines basically states that vapers should not be forced to follow the same rules and regulations as smokers, because vaping is a safer option that could get people away from cigarettes.

Information! The guidelines also suggests that vaping should only be banned altogether in workplaces where children are present (like daycare facilities) and schools.

How popular is vaping in England?

About 2.8 million adults use E-cigs in Great Britain alone – and contrary to what many people believe, these numbers are made up almost completely by people who either currently smoke or used to smoke. Young people make up a very, very small percentage of users.

About The Author

NicoleIt's my passion to do the research about familiar to me topics, especially when it comes to electronic cigarettes and the whole vaping industry as such. I hope you will find my content useful and when / if you do - please do share it! I will appreciate it! :) See our ''Who We Are'' page to find out more about me and my colleagues. Thanks and I look forward to your comments and feedback.